


hope that you fall in love (and it hurts so bad)

by nyckolodeo_n



Series: First Meetings [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-25 00:05:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4939078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyckolodeo_n/pseuds/nyckolodeo_n
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“Leaving so soon, camera boy?” Harry whirls around and positively beams at the sight in front of him. Niall is hanging upside down, hands behind his head with his ball on the ground beneath his head. “That’s too bad, I was really starting to love the attention.”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	hope that you fall in love (and it hurts so bad)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TrashTalkingTozier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashTalkingTozier/gifts).



> i'm back and ready to party .!
> 
> this is for nicole because she was cool enough to use my name idea for her Harry Potter au when naming Niall's owl that you can [(Read here)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4809977) :)
> 
> x disclaimer = i don't own one direction or any of their members x

Harry is lying under a tree when it happens.

He’s at the community park and he’s supposed to be working on his photography assignment, but taking pictures of beautiful things found in nature is probably the most clichéd and unoriginal assignment his professor could have possibly given the class so Harry’s decided he’s not going to do it. At least not right now. He’s extremely bored though, so he pulls out his camera and aims it at different sections of the branches of the tree he’s laying under.

There aren’t many other people in the park today; a woman with her toddler, a couple on the swing set, and a small group of about four boys playing football in the open field that they used to use for the youth teams in the area. Harry recognizes the one with the dark hair as Zayn from Physics class, the loud one as Louis from the football team, and the athletic looking one as Liam from the boxing arena that’s down the street. But the only one Harry has eyes for is the blonde boy that’s with them. 

He’s got a laugh loud enough to hear from where Harry’s sitting and his smile is brighter than the sun. Harry subconsciously lifts his camera so that it’s aimed towards the four boys and focuses on the blonde’s face. His eyes are a bright blue and he’s got freckles all over the planes of his face. Harry’s never seen someone so beautiful in his life and he drops the camera back down and lies on his back, sighing like a school girl and smiling wide up at the sky.  He feels like he’s in the clouds as he closes his eyes and imagines tracing the lines of the blonde strangers face with the slightest touch of his fingers. Harry really feels like a ten-year-old girl with a crush and he would beat himself up for it had there not been a loud crash right above his head to startle him back to reality.

He sits up with a jolt and looks up to see the football the four boys were playing with stuck in the branches above him. He looks over to the field and sees Louis and the blonde wrestling as Liam tries to break them apart while Zayn just laughs at the scene in front of him. Harry quickly takes a few pictures as he realizes the blonde is actually  _walking straight towards him_ but then realizes he’s probably just coming to get the ball out of the tree and he automatically feels stupid. The blonde boy probably doesn’t even realize Harry’s laying there. 

“Hurry up, Niall! We’ve only got half an hour until we have to be home for dinner!” Louis shouts and the blonde – Niall, his brain supplies – and Liam’s frowning at him, if the creases in his forehead are anything to go by. Zayn’s still laughing but mostly at Liam as the blonde runs over and starts to climb the tree.

“Shut up, you idiot. The ball is up here because  _you_ decided to see how far you could drop kick the damn thing. Fucking prick.” Niall’s laughing so Harry knows the insults are just banter, but Harry can’t get over how strong of accent the other boy has and Harry is absolutely swooning. The blonde is moving gracefully through the branches and before Harry even realizes what he’s doing, the longhaired boy is lifting his camera up to his eye and snapping pictures of the boy in the tree. He moves gracefully as he moves from one branch to another and Harry can’t help but to keep snapping away on his camera.

The shutter on Harry’s camera is louder than he remembers it, though, and he sees the other boy stop right as Harry takes the next picture. Harry freezes because  _shit,_ he’s been caught, but through his lens he sees the blonde smirk as he continues to climb the tree. Harry doesn’t take another picture just yet, intrigued by the sudden awareness Niall has of him and his camera. The blonde stops then and does this weird thing where he sticks his hand on his hip and looks like he’s glaring at a camera and Harry suddenly realizes that _he is_ glaring at a camera and Harry snaps a shot, delighted at the face Niall makes when Harry’s caught on.

They go on like that every few branches Niall climbs up to get his ball; Niall will hold some ridiculous pose until Harry clicks the shutter button on his camera a few times before Niall moves again and they repeat the process. When Niall actually gets to his football, he balances it on his nose like a seal and Harry cracks up as he attempts to get a few good shots while he can barely see through his lens. Harry wipes the tears from his eyes and when he looks back through the lens, Niall is no longer in the spot Harry last saw him. In fact, no matter where in the tree Harry looks, he can’t see the blonde boy with the beautiful eyes and he’s worried that he’s gone forever. Harry lowers the camera and sighs as he begins to pack his things.

“Leaving so soon, camera boy?” Harry whirls around and positively beams at the sight in front of him. Niall is hanging upside down, hands behind his head with his ball on the ground beneath his head. “That’s too bad, I was really starting to love the attention.” Up close, his eyes look much bluer than they had on camera and the freckles on his jaw are more prominent. Harry shuffles to grab his camera, uncaring of how foolish he probably looks, and snaps a couple photos as Niall changes poses every few seconds. They’re both vaguely aware of Louis yelling at Niall about being a wanker but they both ignore it in turn for continuing their impromptu photo shoot.

“What’s your name, kid?” And that should really irk Harry because there’s no way the boy hanging opposite of him is any more than a year or two older than him, but he just can’t seem to really care. 

“I’m Harry.” His voice is a little raspy so clears it and tries again. “Harry.”

“Well, Harry, do you take pictures of every footballer that comes to the park,” he’s smirking and Harry takes another picture, “or am I just a special case?” Harry freezes because he realizes that he’s not even  _asked_ this boy in front of him if he could take his picture and he suddenly feel so, so, so bad and it must read on his face, because Niall lowers himself out of the tree and crosses to Harry to gently place a hand on the curly-haired boys chest. “Hey, bro don’t sweat it. It’s totally okay, man I promise. I don’t mind.” The blonde boy is smiling somewhat fondly at Harry and it makes him want to melt, and he feels his cheeks flush at the realization.

“Anyways, Harry, what are you doing next Thursday? Because there’s a football game that I’m playing in and I would love for you to attend if you’re not busy. Maybe we can grab coffee afterwards, if you promise to bring your camera with you.” Niall looks a little bit hopeful and Harry isn’t going to turn down an invitation to gawk at the attractive boy standing in front of him so he smiles and nods, not trusting himself at all to speak. The other boy smiles so wide Harry’s pretty sure his face is going to break in half. “Brilliant. That’s bloody brilliant, that is. Ok, well I’ve got to go now, so I’ll see you Thursday?” He grabs his ball and goes to run off before he turns around one last time and kisses Harry soft on the cheek. “My name’s Niall, by the way. Bye, Harry.” 

He turns around and runs back towards his friends, and Harry can hear him laughing at Louis’ brash yelling about how if they’re late getting back to his mum’s house he’s blaming Niall for their tardiness. Harry just lays back in the grass and smiles up at the clouds. “Bye, Niall.” Harry whispers, and he’s never been more excited to go to a football game than he is in that moment.

His photography professor has the greatest ideas.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote and posted this a really long time ago when i had a tumblr, but i decided to fix it up and try again.  
> title from OneRepublic's _i lived_


End file.
